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When can nursing mum expect to get their period?

A friend is breastfeeding her 11 months old baby and her period started today. Is this normal? A lot of nursing mum keep on asking this question. Some mums started having their period after a year and for some almost 15 months after giving birth.

Yes that's normal. Basically, anything is normal when it comes to periods and breastfeeding. 15 months is the average time for it to take for periods to return when a woman is 'ecologically breastfeeding'. This means that she is breastfeeding on demand in the day and night, has not used any formula milk and tends to co-sleep or babywear. All these activities make it more likely that periods will take that bit longer to return. It is nature's way of spacing babies!

A small percentage of breastfeeding mums will find their periods return even during the first 6 months when they are exclusively breastfeeding.

It is possible to get pregnant when breastfeeding when your baby is any age (even newborn) although it is very unlikely if you are exclusively breastfeeding (i.e. your baby is 6 months of age or less). Remember that if mum gives her baby anything else other than breastmilk in the first 6 months (which is not ideal) then she is more likely to return to fertility earlier.